Shloka 26
एते द्रवन्ति सम रथाश्वनागा: पदातिसड्घानतिमर्दयन्त: | सम्मुहमाना: कौरवा: सर्व एव द्रवन्ति नागा इव दाहभीता:
bhīmasena uvāca |
ete dravanti sama-rathāśva-nāgāḥ padāti-saṅghān atimardayantaḥ |
sammuhyamānāḥ kauravāḥ sarva eva dravanti nāgā iva dāha-bhītāḥ ||
Bhīma disse: “Olha—essas tropas fogem, e na corrida, com carros, cavalos e elefantes em confusão, esmagam as massas de infantes. De fato, os Kaurava, todos eles, recuam aturdidos—como elefantes aterrorizados pelo clarão de um incêndio na floresta.”
भीमसेन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how fear and confusion can collapse even a powerful force: when leadership and morale break, the strong trample their own ranks in panic. Ethically, it implies the kṣatriya ideal of steadiness in battle and warns against the destructive consequences of uncontrolled terror.
Bhīma observes the Kaurava forces in disarray. Chariots, horses, and elephants are retreating so chaotically that they crush the infantry, and the Kauravas flee like elephants frightened by a forest fire.